Anselma "Ansel" Atega-Ruiz, the Lead Angel

In the quaint town of Calape, Bohol, six sisters used to be known as Dolfo's Angels. This fond tag was inspired by the hit TV series, Charlie's Angels, about young, sexy and intelligent women who led secret lives as agents and crusaders for a man they worked for, admired and only talked to but have never met.

They were Melou, Cheche, Tetess, Ann-ann, Tata and Bebeth, the six daughters Adolfo Yap Ruiz, who married Anselma Atega, my Mama's sister.

Dolfo was of Chinese roots, and born to a pretty, petite mestiza, Paz Yap Ruiz.

Among my cousins, I am particularly close to the Atega- Ruizes because we were in the same age bracket. That is why I remember that I waited for summer breaks excitedly because then, they will be visiting from Bohol and we would surely have fun together, whether it is in Cabadbaran where Lolo Belo and Lola Tering lived, or in Butuan, where I lived with my own family.

My Ruiz cousins were quite popular in their place, especially during their high school to college years in the 1980's to the early 1990's when their house would be a favorite look-see especially for young men who were brave enough not only to admire them from a distance, but pay them a visit. And they did have not just a few admirers especially in Cabadbaran where we would go like a pack and people called us 'mga apo ni Belo.'

But before the Dolfo's Angels came to be, there was the original lead angel in Dolfo's realm--Anselma Atega.

She was named after Anselma Duro, her father Belo's mother, the first wife of Juan Atega. Not much is known about her grandmother as she died relatively young. Lola Imay, as they called her, was from Maug, Butuan City.

Ansel, as she is called, was the middle child, and the youngest of the 3 Atega girls of Belo and Tering Atega, the two others were Alice (+) and Virgie.

She was one who was relatively shielded from the realities of the war period because she had been a frail child.

A teacher by profession, she is a beauty consultant at heart. Ansel never compromised on things that some women would take for granted-- putting on moisturizers, sunblocks, and what have you, even when she is dead-tired or busy.  And how she looks now is enough evidence of her efforts to look physically flawless.

Ansel is now in her late 70's but she can pass for someone younger than her age-- the trials and triumphs of her life perhaps only reflected in her eyes when she talks of things past and of people she loves.

(to be continued)